I know this is going to be the last blog of the trip, but I find that I’m having trouble getting started. I am pretty sure it’s going to be the longest because I feel like there is so much to cover. It’s not just the champagne houses- it’s the food, the town, and the final day in Paris. I try not to think of trips as “once-in-a-lifetime,” but looking back, I realize just how phenomenal this one was!

When we decided to set up this trip, my friend David Johnson was just starting his luxury travel company: Trip Lush Travel. I wanted something quite customized, but I still wanted to be led around. My main focus in the Champagne region was getting a chance to try wines that I wouldn’t be as likely to get in the United States. But, confession time: As much as I love wine, (and I do love it), I have A LOT of trouble discerning between great champagnes and mediocre sparkling. I mean I can tell the difference between Andre and Krug, but it’s not like the difference between Franzia and Cheval Blanc to me. I’m pretty okay with all that sparkles. Still, I want the experience and the stories. We definitely got those!

So, from the boat dock, the four of us were picked up in a Mercedes minivan. That seemed to be the mode of transportation because that’s what all of our transfers were in. I like it! The rear was configured so that we faced each other. Truly, the ride to Reims would have been far faster on the TGV, but once we got out of Paris traffic, the ride was smooth and quick – under 2 hours.

Once in Reims, things got a little hairy. There was a lot of construction, particularly around our hotel: La Caserne Chanzy. Eventually, after backing up and turning around a time or two, our driver got us out to the entrance. The rooms were spacious and cool. Unfortunately, our room wasn’t available, but it was early in the day. They told us they would contact us when they were ready- they didn’t, no big deal. Sadly, the wifi didn’t work most of the time when we were there. The breakfasts were fantastic each day and included with our package.

We spent some time in the gorgeous cathedral just across the street. I loved that the character completely as the light changed. The whole thing was full of the most amazing mismatched stained class throughout, including windows designed by Marc Chagall

I mean, yes, it was ABC (another bloody church), but this one was really worth wandering around in. It’s HUGE and so interesting. I also discovered the fun of using ChatGPT while I was walking around. Almost all of the explanations for everything were in French, but if I took pictures of the signs and uploaded them, Chat translated for me. Very useful! Notre Dame de Reims was amazing. Before this trip, I thought there was only one Notre Dame other than the university. I saw at least three on this trip…

As part of our wanderings, we found another café and a spot to stop and drink some champagnes… I mean, when in Reims… (Oh. and the pronunciation? you say the “ei” like you would say the “a” in France, so it ALMOST rhymes with the American pronunciation of France.)

After our champagne stop, we returned the the hotel and our room was ready. Then, the Bear wanted to go get a few more drinks and another bite to eat. He found Bistro des Anges right behind the hotel. It was a great experience. I asked the somewhat surly bartender what I should order to drink. He said, “Not Coca Cola. Too many Americans come in here wanting Coca Cola.” lol. Fair enough! He also told the Bear he could not have a gin and tonic with Tanqueray because it was “boring.” I had some wonderful escargots and the Bear had an average pate, but then loved the desserts he ordered.

The next day, Benjamin, our driver picked us up. But Benjamin was more than just a driver. This man is a ROCKSTAR. If you ever happen to travel to the region, he is your guy. He studied the area, has been a concierge at 5 star hotels. Now he teaches other concierges. His wife is a winemaker. He did EVERYTHING we needed. When we finished at a place early, he gave suggestions of what to do. When it was raining, he adjusted. He stopped at locations to take pictures, and he could answer every question and fill-in-the-blanks for anything we wondered on other tours. He called ahead when our timing was off. I can’t say enough glowing things about him.

We did three champagne houses and one lunch each day.

Lanson was our first stop. We were already familiar with this particular champagne and buy it often. I liked starting at one that we know but that is not likely to be found everywhere. They had a very small vineyard right there in town. I knew that there were a LOT of rules for winegrowers in champagne. I did NOT know that all of the vines that are currently planted there are the only ones that ever will be unless the governing authority says someone can grow more. The villages that are Premier Cru and Grand Cru always will be. It’s not about how good the wine is from year to year. It’s only the ones that were designated. And in each village grapes are handpicked when the governing body says it’s time- individual winemakers have no control. Our first host went through the champagne making process with us- with which we were already familiar, but it was good to review -once. By the time we went to our last house on the second day, we asked to forego the explanation. Ha! I’ll be hearing “dosage” in my sleep for years!

Anytime I saw the word “Bouzy” on this trip, I took a picture. Bouzy is one of the villages on Reims Mountain (which Benjamin pointed out is just a hill), and they make some of the best champagne. We’re adopting a golden retriever soon, and his name will be Bouzy. (The French pronounce it BooZEE, which I really like!)

After our first champagnes, Benjamin let us know we’d want to be quick getting to the restaurant because it was one of the most popular in the area. We ate at Brasserie le Jardin on their large covered patio. Lunch and our bottle of champagne WITH lunch were both spectacular, but my strawberry tart for dessert was the true standout! I am not normally a big dessert fan, but WOW!

From there, we had a little time until our second visit of the day. Benjamin drove us through the lovely countryside and stopped so we could take some pictures and see the windmill.

Our next stop was at the very small grower producer A. Margaine. They are father/daughter winemakers going back generations. Mathilde was in Paris, so we got to tour with Arnaud who made his first wine there in 1989, When we went to the kitchen overlooking their garden to taste, Benjamin suggested that he share an older bottle with us, and Arnaud was happy to oblige. It was such a wonderful, casual, authentic experience.

The bookend to our first day of tasting was the much larger Canard Duchene. It’s so interesting to see what the larger houses do with their cellars. All had art installations included in their spaces. I had no idea how long the non-vintage wines sit in there just waiting for the right time to release. I’m not going to lie – the stairs going down to this cellar were TOUGH, and then climbing up all 100 of them at the end was even a challenge! I usually don’t have trouble with up, but I was sucking some wind when I got back to the top!

Almost every winery also had some sort of display that would show the sizes of champagne bottles from split to Nebuchadnezzar which holds 20 standard bottles.

We fell into a routine for the next three nights. After a day of a big breakfast and big lunch, we would go back to the hotel room and have an aperitif and a bottle of champagne (okay, or two) with Paul and Julie. Their room had the cathedral view, so we would go in there for a few hours. Julie, in the best Julie way possible, had an array of snacks she had collected through the trip for us to share for dinner. By night two, both she and the Bear were filching food from the breakfast buffet to add. They called it the “wifi tax” since the hotel STILL didn’t have wifi. Benjamin even bought us some “champagne biscuits.” Truth? None of us liked them, but we did like TRYING them.

We had one more day left in the Champagne region and made our way to Ay, Epernay, and Bouzy the next day.

It was a somewhat stormy morning on and off to start. Our first stop of the day was Philippe Martin. We were supposed to taste on their lovely patio, but because of the thunder and rain, we were moved indoors. Funny enough, I had mentioned during breakfast that we hadn’t seen any winery dogs on this visit. A few minutes into this tasting, I saw a golden retriever walking around outside. Our hostess told me that he couldn’t join us because he was wet. A few minutes later, he stood at the entryway, looking very sad. She said if we were SURE we didn’t mind wet dog, he could come in. We did not mind! U2 (yes, that’s his name), was the BIGGEST cuddle puppy sweetheart. Sure, I liked the wines, too… but the DOG! I did ask to try an “odd” champagne while we were there, and I asked about trying a rose. Our hostess let us know that the popularity in rose goes up and down, so often they don’t produce it at all. She let me try one of the darkest ones I have ever seen.

At that time, we had planned to walk down Champagne Avenue in Epernay, but it was POURING. Benjamin took us for a drive anyway, and called our lunch place, Le Clos Corbier, where he arranged for us to do an additional tasting of their estate champagne, Collard Milesi and their family partner, Domanie Mea. Why not? When it rains, it pours Grand Cru. We followed that with another amazing lunch. I THOUGHT I was ordering light. I got a chef’s salad that turned out to be a PILE of wonderful potatoes in prosciutto. It was AMAZING!

I had been a little concerned that we were going to be cutting it close for lunch with our appointment at Moet Chandon being as early as it was. Benjamin assured us we’d have plenty of time. As it was, we did get a little rushed at the end, but that may also be because a large group came in. We were 10 minutes late for the tour for which we were supposed to arrive 10 minutes early, but it was no problem at all. Benjamin called ahead, and all we really missed was some time to walk through the art installations before the cellars.

So, I know I said that I wanted to go primarily to small houses and grower producers. This is true, but if you’re going to throw a big one in there, why not the biggest in the world? I’m glad we went, but it was definitely nowhere near as personal as the others. I do find the winemaking itself pretty impressive. It’s like Budweiser, you know? No matter how the grains are grown, people want Budweiser to always taste EXACTLY the same. People feel the same about their Moet, so there is craft in making something taste like there wasn’t any craft, and it’s amazing to go into a cellar with MILLIONS of bottles and miles of caverns.

Then, we went to our last winery, which I believe was the favorite for all of us: B Tornay et F. Hutasse. It is a husband and wife team, both with families with Grand Cru estates, and they each have their own part of the caves. We also met one of their twin sons- Remy- who is getting ready to begin an internship at Domain Carneros in California as he is continuing the family business. We told our hostess that we knew PLENTY about the process of making champagne. Our tasting turned out to be private, so she was able to tailor it specifically to what we wanted to know. She took us back into their production facility, and we got to see the machines that are used in place of a human riddler. We were able to ask all the questions that we wanted. In the tasting room, she shared a variety of interesting wines with us, including still wines and a brut natural that had some age on it. It was a TERRIFIC grand finale!

From there we bid a fond and final farewell to Benjamin. The next morning we took the ride from Reims back to Paris for our final hotel of the trip. Paul and Julie went off to stay in the Latin quarter and the Bear and I stayed at Hotel Madison in St. Germain. It had an amazing view of ABC (another bloody church), and was very centrally located.

We made off for our last walkabout and met up with Paul and Julie in the Luxembourg garden. It was such a beautiful place by the Senate to just watch life in Paris. A high school band was playing music. People were playing soccer or stopping at pop-up stands to eat a crepe. Statues and fountains were everywhere, and we got our last peek at the Eiffel tower.

Truth be told, however, this was not your regular walkabout. The Bear had a destination in mind: Le Grand Epicerie. It is a very famous grocery store in Paris, known for the little indoor cafes and the wall of butter! Turns out you can actually vacuum pack it and bring it home with you, The Bear had a lot of fun on this trip, but I’m not sure I ever saw the level of giddiness anywhere else that I saw at this store. We got a small plate of iberico and manchego for lunch right there in the middle of the meat department before traversing the streets a half mile or so back to the hotel- passing Hermes, Rolex and things of that ilk on the way.

Our flight was at 9 AM the next day. As we left Paris at 5:15 AM, we saw the partygoers from Friday night making their way, bleary eyed, out of the bars. Again, we were lucky at CDG- through security in no time at all and into the lounge for the last croissants. We had a LONG layover in Montreal (almost 6 hours), but, again, we were in a lounge with plenty of space. I finished the new season of Ginny and Georgia and finished reading the new Fredrik Backman book. Then, it was one last four hour plane ride… and we’re home.

And now the blogs are done, and I have completely relived every moment of the trip, and I loved doing it!

It’s weird not to have another big trip planned (although I’ve been researching Amsterdam to Budapest on Scenic all day- ha!) Still, I have a new resort in Mexico to try out in November, and I’ll continue enjoying life until then!

What a great trip! And that’s a wrap on France 2025!